Blue Sky- Brann & Kara Smith

We became so excited that we decided to quit our corporate jobs and fly balloons. So we packed up, sold our house and moved into our 40-foot motor home.

We went to Phoenix, AZ to fly. Brann became a private pilot in June of 2000, and a commercial pilot in June of 2001. We have enjoyed traveling to different balloon rallies in New Mexico and Arizona, including Albuquerque, Sierra Vista’s Festival of Color, Thunderbird Balloon Classic in Scottsdale, Yuma’s Colorado River Crossing, Glendale Glitter and Glow and the American Cancer Society’s Camp Sunrise. Once we moved to the NW those rallies became part of our fun, including the Walla Walla, Tigard Balloon Festival, Albany’s Festival and of course our favorite place to fly, Balloons Over Bend.

Kara quickly tired of crewing and wanted to fly. She became a private pilot in May of 2002. We loved ballooning so much, we successfully ran a Balloon Company in Bend, Oregon for several years.  We are currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada and are still flying.